Ball shooting toy



Aug. 23, 1949. c. w. BRlMHALL BALL SHOOTING TOY v 2 sheeiS-sheet 1 FiledJan. 2, 1946 C. W. BRIMHALL BALLA SHOOTING TOY Aug., 23, 1949.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 2, 1946 NMO wm.

IIIII viilllll Illll m.. s m,

mmf

rl i mam/M Patented Aug. 23, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFl-CE BALLSHOOTING TOY Claude W. Brimhall, Gaston, Ind.

Application January 2, 1946, Serial No. 638,696

Y (Cl. 46-43) 3 Claims. i 1

The invention aims to provide a novel, entertaining and durable toy forshooting vmarbles or other balls along a runway, by means of a rapidre,magazine-type, crank-actuated gun, and for returning the balls to thegun magazine vfor repeated nring yas long as desired, with the intervalsbetween shots either short or long, according to the speed with whichthe crank is turned.

The magazine preferably includes a hopper for the returned balls, and afurther aim is to provide novel means for preventing overloading of saidhopper and thereby preventing the balls from becoming wedged therein.

A still further object is to make novel provision for removing any ofthe balls which .may fall back from a curved intermediate runway whichconnects a l-ower runway, along which the balls are shot, with an upperball-returning runway.

Yet another object is to provide a novel construction which may beexpeditiously manufactured primarily from wood, and may be prot@ ablysold at a reasonable price.

Figure 1 is a side elevation.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan partly in .horizontal section, asindicated by the irregular line 3--3 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal section on line 4-4 of Fig.2 and Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a further enlarged detail longitudinal section on line 5 5 ofFig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a vertical transverse section on line 6 6 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a detail horizontal sectional viewsubstantially on line 'I-lof Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of one of the plunger and spring guides.

A preferred construction has been illustrated and will be ratherspecifically described, with the understan-ding, however, ythat withinthe scope of the invention as claimed, variations may be made.

A lower horizontal ball runway I0, an upper rearwardly declinedball-returning runway II, and a curved runway I0 rigidly connecting therear ends of said runways I ll and II, are provided, and a rapid-fire,magazine-type, crankactuated gun l2 is mounted on the rear end of therunway Il] under the rear end of the runway II, for forwardly shootingballs I3 along the ballguiding and returning runway formed jointly bythe elements I0, Il and I0', and for receiving the returned balls inreadiness to be shot again. The shooting will occur repeatedly andalmost continuously as long as the gun-actuating crank I4 is operated,and the intervals between shots may be controlled by turning said crankat one speed or another. The entire toy is preferably supported by legsI5 which space it sufficiently from the floor to make the crank I4readily accessible to a child kneeling or sitting. The legs arepreferably inwardly and upwardly foldable when the toy is to be stored.

The lower runway I0 comprises a bottom I6 and side strips I'I securedthereto by screws or the like I8, and the upper runway II likewiseincludes a bottom I9 and side strips 20 secured thereto by screws 2i.The intermediate runway Ill comprises a curved plate 22 having integralside flanges `23. The lower end of this plate 22 is secured by bolts orthe like 24 against the lower side of the runway bottom I6, at the frontend of the latter, and the upper end of said plate 22 is spaced abovethe front end of the upper runway bottom I 9. The lower ends of theflanges 23 are secured against the outer sides of the side strips I? ofthe lower runway In, by bolts or the like 25, and the upper ends of saidflanges 23 are secured by bolts or the like 26 against the inner sidesof the side strips 20" of the upper runway II. Directly in front of thelower runway bottom I6, the plate 22 is provided with 4`an integralchannel-shaped portion 21 extending transversely thereof and slidablyreceiving a drawer 28 to collect any of the balls I3 which may fall backfrom the intermediate runway I. The bottom of the drawer 28 is formedwith a ball outlet 29 and when said drawer is partly withdrawn from thechannel 21 and tilted, any balls within said drawer will run to saidoutlet 29 and descend therethrough.

,At the rear end of the upper runway Il, is a pivotally hung gate 30which arrests the returned balls until they have accumulated againstsaid gate in sufficient number to push the latter rearwardly toy openposition, whereupon the balls will drop into the magazine or hopper 3Iof the gun I2, for gravitation to the ball shooting means hereinafterdescribed. I have found that by thus arresting a number of the balls inthe rear end of the runway li, the presence of too many balls in thehopper or magazine 3| at one time, is prevented, thereby overcoming anytendency of the balls to wedge and lodge instead of properly gravitatingto the shooting means. Immediately behind the gate `3l), the side strips2D of the upper runway Il, are secured to an end wall 32 by screws orthe like.

The gun I2 includes two longitudinal side walls 33 preferably ofVgreater height toward their front ends than toward their rear ends, saidside walls 33 being secured against the inner sides of the side stripsI1 of the lower runway I6, by screws 34. The rear ends of these walls 33are connected by a rear end wall 35. Extending from this end wall 35 topoints somewhat in advance of the side walls 33, are a number of strips36 which may be secured by nails or the like 31 upon the bottom I6 ofthe lower runway IIl. In the present instance, there are three of thestrips 36, two lying against the inner faces of the side walls 33 andone disposed centrally between said side walls.

A front end structure is secured by screws or the like 38 between thefront ends of the side walls 33, said front end structure comprising alower block 39 and an upper block 40 in the present showing, said lowerbloc 39 having two vertical ball-guiding openings 4I between its ends.The upper block 40 inclines rearwardly from the upper side of the block39 and its base is disposed totally in ladvance of the openings 4l, anda suitable finishing plate 42 is preferably secured by screws or thelike against the front areas of said blocks 39 and 40.

An intermediate transverse wall r43 is secure-d between the intermediateportions of the side walls 33, and a ball chute y44 rests upon the upperedge of this wall 43 and the rear portion of the block 39, said chute 44being preferably removable to give access to mechanism below it forinspection and lubrication. The upper side of the chute 44 hasappropriate ball-guiding ribs V45 to guide the balls I3 to the openings4 I.

Y Spring and plunger guiding, longitudinally split .tubes 46 extendunder the intermediate wall 43 and the rear end of the block 39 and abutthe rear end wall 35. Y The front ends of these tubes l46 are held downby the block 39, and a horizontal plate 41 holds the rear portions ofsaid tubes against ascent, said plate 41 being secured upon the rearportions of the strips 36 Yand coacting with the walls 33, 35 and 43 informing a pocket in which to keep a number of the balls I3. Each tube 46is provided between its ends with two spaced parallel longitudinal walls48 which project upwardly and abut the block 39 and the wall 43tothereby hold said tubes against longitudinal shifting. Lateralshifting of these tubes is prohibited lby the strips 35 between whichthey are disposed.

Plungers 49 are slidable in the front portions of the tubes 46, eachplunger being movable from a forward position (upper portion of Fig. 3and Fig. 4) in which it directly supports the lowermost ball in one ofthe openings 4I, to a rearward position (lower portion of Fig. 3 andFig. 5) in which it allows the previously supported ball to drop to ashooting position in front of the plunger, in which position, the ballis yieldably held by a light transverse Spring 56 suitably mounted atits ends on two of the strips 36, the upper edges of said strips beingnotched to receive said spring.

VHunger-projecting springs are disposed in the rear end portions of thetubes 46 with their rear ends abutting a plate 52 suitably secured tothe rear end wall 35. Forward movement of the plungers 49 is limited bystops 53 projecting upwardly from said plungers, said stops beingcooperable with a stop plate 54 inset in and suitably secured upon thestrips 36. Stops 53 may also project upwardly suiciently to strike therear end of the block 39. v Rotatably mounted in suitable openings inthe side Walls 33, is a transverse shaft 55 which is provided with thecrank I4 above described, said shaft being held against endwise movementin any suitable way. This shaft rigidly carries two tappet pins 56cooperable with upstanding lugs 51 on the plungers 49 to retract andrelease said plungers as the shaft is rotated.

Whenever la plunger 49 occupies the forward position shown at the upperportion of Fig. 3 and in'; Fig. 4, it directly supports the lowermost ofthe balls I3 in one of the openings 4I. When the plunger is withdrawnsuiiciently by turning the crank I4, to clear the supported ball, thisball will drop to the shooting position shown at the lower portion ofFig. 3 and in Fig. 5, in which lposition it is yieldably held againstdisplacement forwardly, by means of the spring 50. By the time the ballI3 reaches this shooting position or immediately thereafter, the plungeris released and its spring projects it forcibly forward, thus drivingthe ball under the spring 50 along the runway I0. The ball leaving thisrunway rolls along the curved runway I0 onto the upper runway II andreturns along the latter. Rotation of the crank will successively shootballs from both barrels of the gun and they may be shot in such rapidsuccession as to simulate real intensive machine-gun fire, or may bemore slowly shot, simply by controlling the speed of the crank. When asuflicient number of balls collect against the gate 39, they push itopen and descend into the hopper 3| in readiness for gravity-feed to theshooting means. The parts 58 are merely pivotally hung targets operableby the balls in the runway I I, and if desired, they may have scoringvalues, for use when using the toy to play a game.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,it will be seen that novel and advantageous provision has been made forcarrying out the objects of the invention. While preferences have beendisclosed, attention is again invited to the possibility of makingvariations within the scope of the invention as claimed. For example,the gun may be constructed in single-barrel form, instead of thedouble-barrel form shown.

Iclaim:

1. A ball shooting toy comprising a lower ball runway, a magazine typerapid-fire gun mounted at the rear end of said runway for shooting ballsforwardly along said runway, said gun having a manually operatedactuating crank the speed of which governs the intervals between shots,an upper ball runway disposed longitudinally above said lower runway,and a curved intermediate runway connecting the front ends of said lowerand upper runways for directing the balls from said lower runway ontosaid upper runway when said balls are shot by said gun, the rear end ofsaid upper runway being disposed at the magazine of said gun to returnthe balls to said magazine, said magazine including a hopper into whichthe balls are discharged from said ball runway, the delivery end of saidrunway being declined to said hopper and having a pressure-opened gatefor arresting the entrance of balls into said hopper until said ballscollect in suflicient number against said gate to push it open, therebyrestricting the number of balls in said hopper to prevent them fromwedging therein.

2. In a toy, a lower ball runway, Ia curved C- shaped runwayconnectedwith the front end of said lower runway to receive balls therefrom, the

lower front end of said curved runway being provided with a transverseupwardly open channel at the front end of said lower runway, and anupwardly open drawer in said channel to receive any balls which may fallrearwardly along said curved runway, said drawer being slidable at leastpartly from said channel for ball removal.

3. In a toy, la lower ball runway, a curved C- shaped runway connectedwith the front end of said lower runway to receive balls therefrom, thelower front end of said curved runway being provided with a transverseupwardly open channel at the front end of said lower runway, and anupwardly open drawer in said channel to receive any balls which may fallrearwardly along said l5 curved runway, the bottom of said drawer havinga ball outlet through which balls collected in said drawer may roll whensaid drawer is withdrawn sufciently to move said ball outlet from thebottom of said channel.

CLAUDE W. BRIMIEALL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,076,125 Kilgore Oct. 21, 1913i, 1,086,727 Palmer Feb. 10, 1914 1,282,418 Haskell Oct. 22, 19181,312,698 Lasares Aug. 12, 1919 1,480,499 Brown s Jan. 8, 1924 1,582,796Smith Apr. 27, 1926 1,903,790 Myers Apr. 18, 1933 2,196,549 ColalucaApr. 9, 1940 2,278,024 Rosenzweig Mar. 31, 1942 2,409,547 Cox Oct. 15,1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 172,766 Great Britain Dec. 22,1921

